Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1st 1919 in New York City. His father was a Jewish importer of cheese and meat while his mother was half Scottish and half Irish. He had an eight year sister named Doris. In his childhood he attended public school on the west of Manhattan. At age thirteen the young Salinger was moved to the McBurney private school also in Manhattan. At the private school he was involved with the school newspaper and theatre. After finishing ninth and tenth grade in McBurney he transferred to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The academy strongly influenced how he pictured Pencey in Catcher in the Rye. In 1936 he graduated the academy and started attending the New York university but dropped out after one year to work in a meatpacking company in Vienna in 1937. At his misfortune Nazi Germany took over Austria in 1938. Salinger went back to the US only a couple months before.
When he returned to the USA he went to Pennsylvania's Ursinus College and Columbia University. In Columbia University he took a writing class and was supervised by Whit Burnett. In Columbia University is where he first started writing. Career
His first short story was published in 1940 in the Story, Saturday Evening Post, and Esquire and then later in the New Yorker. Salinger was drafted into the infantry in 1942 to 1946 and even fought in the Normandy invasion. While serving in the army he met Ernest Hemingway in Paris, who is also an author. After serving in the army he committed himself to writing. In 1948 there was a movie adaptation made of his short story Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut. When it was released in 1949, it was so bad and far from Salinger’s story that it was renamed My Foolish Heart. That is when he decided not to allow the production of any more movie adaptations of his stories.
His stories for magazines were heavily influenced by his service in the army though later his influences changed to Hindu-Buddhist. His first and only novel is The Catcher in the Rye. It immediately gained huge international fame with mixed reviews from critics though most would say that it is brilliant. "I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure," said Salinger in 1974. He did his best to avoid the attention of the public by not including his picture in the book and rejecting movie adaptations of the book. J. D. Salinger would very frequently refuse to give interviews and this made journalists think that he has something to hide.
Family
He was the second son of Sol Salinger, a Jewish meat and cheese importer. His mom was a woman of Scottish-Irish descent. His family lived in a plush apartment on Park Avenue. In 1945, Salinger married a French doctor named Sylvia. After their divorce at the age of 36 in 1955, he married Claire Douglas. They got two children together. Margaret and Matthews. Margaret Salinger wrote in her memoir Dream Catcher that she believed her parents would not have married, or that she would have been born and that her father was a difficult and isolated man. Salinger and his wife, Claire were introduced to the path of Kriya (The Meaning of Kriya The word Kriya is composed of two syllables, kri and yâ. In Sanskrit, kri means karma dhatu - action of the elements, and yâ means Soul or Atma. The word Kriya indicates action of the Soul or prâna karma. The first and most important action of the Soul is breath.) yoga in a small store-front Hindu temple, located in Washington, D.C. They did breathing exercises to practice for ten minutes twice a day, which would strengthen and give life to fill him. Salinger insisted that Claire drop out of school and live with him, which she did. Parts from the story "Franny", are based on his relationship with Claire. Because of their isolated location and Salinger's relationship to his new religion, they hardly saw other people for long stretches of time. Claire was also frustrated by his ever-changing religious beliefs. After abandoning Kriya yoga, Salinger tried Dianetics (Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and are practised by followers of Scientology.), even meeting its founder L. Ron Hubbard and according to Claire he was quickly affected by it. Shortly after, this was followed by attending a number of spiritual, medical, and nutritional belief systems including Christian Science, homeopathy; which includes, fasting, vomiting, megadoses of Vitamin C. Salinger's family life was further marked by the strong relationships with his religions aspects. After the first child was born, Claire felt that her daughter had replaced her in Salinger's affections. Margaret was sick much of the time, but Salinger refused to take her to a doctor due to his relationship with the Christian Science, Dianetics. In the winter of 1957, Claire made plans to murder her 13-month-old daughter and then commit suicide. Claire had intended to do it during a trip to New York City with Salinger, but she instead decided to take Margaret from the hotel and run away. In 1967, the marriage ended in divorce when Salinger's retreat into his private world and Zen Buddhism grew deeper.
Death Jerome David Salinger died of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. His life ended on January 27, 2010 at an age of 91. Salinger died a peaceful death and it was believed that it wasn’t a painful death. The agency said, “his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year. He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death.” (Charles McGrath) The author's son confirmed the death to the Associated Press. The cause of death was not reported, even though it’s said that Mr. Salinger broke his hip last year in May, which might or might not relate to his cause of death. For nearly 30 years to his death, he lived with Colleen O'Neill, a nurse 40 years younger than him. J.D. Salinger who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer, became famous for not wanting to be famous. "What he will be remembered for is one of the most remarkable books about growing up. I think everybody identifies in some way with it." (BBC)
Works
In 1939, Salinger attended a Columbia University evening writing class, taught by Whit Burnett, editor of Story Magazine. Burnett was the first man to see some talent in Salinger’s writing. Burnett published Salinger’s debut short story, “The Young Folks” in March-April. By 1948, the short story, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, was published in The New Yorker,and Salinger began to publish almost exclusively in The New Yorker. Bananafish was one of the most popular stories ever published in the magazine, and he quickly became one of their best-known authors. In 1951, he published his best known novel, The Catcher in the Rye. It was an immediate success that got his reputation as an author to increase rapidly together with the sale of his new novel. The novel was banned in some countries, and some U.S. locales, because of its offensive use of language. A major theme in Salinger’s work is the strong mind of “disturbed” adolescents. In 1953 Salinger published a collection of seven short stories published in The New Yorker; the collection was named Nine Stories. Salinger later published Franny and Zooey (1961) and Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters and Seymour- An Introduction,which were published in 1963. He has not given an interview since 1974, and has not made a public appearance, nor published any new work since 1965. His last published work was “Hapworth 16, 1924,” a short story in the form of a long letter, which was published in The New Yorker in June 1965.
A passage from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”: "Ah, Sharon Lipschutz," said the young man. "How that name comes up. Mixing memory and desire." He suddenly got to his feet. He looked at the ocean. "Sybil," he said, "I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll see if we can catch a bananafish." "A what?" "A bananafish," he said, and undid the belt of his robe. He took off the robe. His shoulders were white and narrow, and his trunks were royal blue. He folded the robe, first lengthwise, then in thirds. He unrolled the towel he had used over his eyes, spread it out on the sand, and then laid the folded robe on top of it. He bent over, picked up the float, and secured it under his right arm. Then, with his left hand, he took Sybil's hand. The two started to walk down to the ocean. - This passage from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is related to the story “The Catcher in the Rye” when looking at Salingers unique writing style. By unique, I mean different from many other writing styles. The passage reveals a different personality from the person in the story, than characters in usual stories. This mental physic disorder that is characterized in the main character throughout most of his stories, is also located in this story. An odd character that secrete from other characters, is often seen in his works. When people in “The Catcher in the Rye”, when people have conversations, the main character often says something that doesn’t make sense to the other person, which is also what is happening in this passage. His colourful and vivid language that he’s reflecting by forming pictures inside of our minds, which is very beautiful and common for Salingers works. He’s focusing on descriptions of odd things inside of a passage like, “He folded the robe, first lengthwise, then in thirds.” which is also seen in “The Catcher in the Rye”.
A passage from “For Esmé—With Love and Squalor ”: “Hey,” he said. “Did you know the goddam side of your face is jumping all over the place?” X said he knew all about it, and covered his tic with his hand. Clay stared at him for a moment, then said, rather vividly, as if he were the bearer of exceptionally good news, “I wrote Loretta you had a nervous breakdown.” “Oh?” “Yeah. She’s interested as hell in all that stuff. She’s majoring in psychology.” Clay stretched himself out on the bed, shoes included. “You know what she said? She says nobody gets a nervous breakdown just from the war and all. She says you probably were unstable like, your whole goddam life.” X bridged his hands over his eyes—the light over the bed seemed to be blinding him—and said that Loretta’s insight into things was always a joy. Clay glanced over at him. “Listen, ya bastard,” he said. “She knows a goddam sight more psychology than you do.” “Do you think you can bring yourself to take your stinking feet off my bed?” X asked.
- When conversations are made in stories as “The Catcher in the Rye” and his other works, he often swears or use strong words as, goddam, phonyandhell to express himself so the statement is clear in his passages. Another thing that I’ve noticed is, in his conversations between two people the main character is always dominating the conversation. Like, Clay glanced over at him. “Listen, ya bastard,” he said. “She knows a goddam sight more psychology than you do.”.The conversation is mainly dominated by the main character and his/her feelings is often revealed in the language. These type of conversations is also used in “The Catcher in the Rye”, and seen when Holden is frustrated or mad about something going on in his life.
January 1, 1919 - January 27, 2010
Early Life
Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1st 1919 in New York City. His father was a Jewish importer of cheese and meat while his mother was half Scottish and half Irish. He had an eight year sister named Doris. In his childhood he attended public school on the west of Manhattan. At age thirteen the young Salinger was moved to the McBurney private school also in Manhattan. At the private school he was involved with the school newspaper and theatre. After finishing ninth and tenth grade in McBurney he transferred to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The academy strongly influenced how he pictured Pencey in Catcher in the Rye. In 1936 he graduated the academy and started attending the New York university but dropped out after one year to work in a meatpacking company in Vienna in 1937. At his misfortune Nazi Germany took over Austria in 1938. Salinger went back to the US only a couple months before.
When he returned to the USA he went to Pennsylvania's Ursinus College and Columbia University. In Columbia University he took a writing class and was supervised by Whit Burnett. In Columbia University is where he first started writing.
Career
His first short story was published in 1940 in the Story, Saturday Evening Post, and Esquire and then later in the New Yorker. Salinger was drafted into the infantry in 1942 to 1946 and even fought in the Normandy invasion. While serving in the army he met Ernest Hemingway in Paris, who is also an author. After serving in the army he committed himself to writing. In 1948 there was a movie adaptation made of his short story Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut. When it was released in 1949, it was so bad and far from Salinger’s story that it was renamed My Foolish Heart. That is when he decided not to allow the production of any more movie adaptations of his stories.
His stories for magazines were heavily influenced by his service in the army though later his influences changed to Hindu-Buddhist. His first and only novel is The Catcher in the Rye. It immediately gained huge international fame with mixed reviews from critics though most would say that it is brilliant. "I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure," said Salinger in 1974. He did his best to avoid the attention of the public by not including his picture in the book and rejecting movie adaptations of the book. J. D. Salinger would very frequently refuse to give interviews and this made journalists think that he has something to hide.
Family
He was the second son of Sol Salinger, a Jewish meat and cheese importer. His mom was a woman of Scottish-Irish descent. His family lived in a plush apartment on Park Avenue.
In 1945, Salinger married a French doctor named Sylvia. After their divorce at the age of 36 in 1955, he married Claire Douglas. They got two children together. Margaret and Matthews. Margaret Salinger wrote in her memoir Dream Catcher that she believed her parents would not have married, or that she would have been born and that her father was a difficult and isolated man.
Salinger and his wife, Claire were introduced to the path of Kriya (The Meaning of Kriya
The word Kriya is composed of two syllables, kri and yâ. In Sanskrit, kri means karma dhatu - action of the elements, and yâ means Soul or Atma. The word Kriya indicates action of the Soul or prâna karma. The first and most important action of the Soul is breath.) yoga in a small store-front Hindu temple, located in Washington, D.C. They did breathing exercises to practice for ten minutes twice a day, which would strengthen and give life to fill him.
Salinger insisted that Claire drop out of school and live with him, which she did. Parts from the story "Franny", are based on his relationship with Claire. Because of their isolated location and Salinger's relationship to his new religion, they hardly saw other people for long stretches of time. Claire was also frustrated by his ever-changing religious beliefs.
After abandoning Kriya yoga, Salinger tried Dianetics (Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body that was invented by the science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard and are practised by followers of Scientology.), even meeting its founder L. Ron Hubbard and according to Claire he was quickly affected by it. Shortly after, this was followed by attending a number of spiritual, medical, and nutritional belief systems including Christian Science, homeopathy; which includes, fasting, vomiting, megadoses of Vitamin C.
Salinger's family life was further marked by the strong relationships with his religions aspects. After the first child was born, Claire felt that her daughter had replaced her in Salinger's affections. Margaret was sick much of the time, but Salinger refused to take her to a doctor due to his relationship with the Christian Science, Dianetics. In the winter of 1957, Claire made plans to murder her 13-month-old daughter and then commit suicide. Claire had intended to do it during a trip to New York City with Salinger, but she instead decided to take Margaret from the hotel and run away. In 1967, the marriage ended in divorce when Salinger's retreat into his private world and Zen Buddhism grew deeper.
Death
Jerome David Salinger died of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. His life ended on January 27, 2010 at an age of 91. Salinger died a peaceful death and it was believed that it wasn’t a painful death. The agency said, “his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year. He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death.” (Charles McGrath) The author's son confirmed the death to the Associated Press.
The cause of death was not reported, even though it’s said that Mr. Salinger broke his hip last year in May, which might or might not relate to his cause of death. For nearly 30 years to his death, he lived with Colleen O'Neill, a nurse 40 years younger than him.
J.D. Salinger who was thought at one time to be the most important American writer, became famous for not wanting to be famous. "What he will be remembered for is one of the most remarkable books about growing up. I think everybody identifies in some way with it." (BBC)
Works
In 1939, Salinger attended a Columbia University evening writing class,
taught by Whit Burnett, editor of Story Magazine. Burnett was the first man to see some talent in Salinger’s writing. Burnett published Salinger’s debut short story, “The Young Folks” in March-April.
By 1948, the short story, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, was published in The New Yorker, and Salinger began to publish almost exclusively in The New Yorker. Bananafish was one of the most popular stories ever published in the magazine, and he quickly became one of their best-known authors.
In 1951, he published his best known novel, The Catcher in the Rye. It was an immediate success that got his reputation as an author to increase rapidly together with the sale of his new novel. The novel was banned in some countries, and some U.S. locales, because of its offensive use of language. A major theme in Salinger’s work is the strong mind of “disturbed” adolescents.
In 1953 Salinger published a collection of seven short stories published in The New Yorker; the collection was named Nine Stories. Salinger later published Franny and Zooey (1961) and Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters and Seymour- An Introduction, which were published in 1963.
He has not given an interview since 1974, and has not made a public appearance, nor published any new work since 1965. His last published work was “Hapworth 16, 1924,” a short story in the form of a long letter, which was published in The New Yorker in June 1965.
A passage from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”:
"Ah, Sharon Lipschutz," said the young man. "How that name comes up. Mixing memory and desire." He suddenly got to his feet. He looked at the ocean. "Sybil," he said, "I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll see if we can catch a bananafish."
"A what?"
"A bananafish," he said, and undid the belt of his robe. He took off the robe. His shoulders were white and narrow, and his trunks were royal blue. He folded the robe, first lengthwise, then in thirds. He unrolled the towel he had used over his eyes, spread it out on the sand, and then laid the folded robe on top of it. He bent over, picked up the float, and secured it under his right arm. Then, with his left hand, he took Sybil's hand.
The two started to walk down to the ocean.
- This passage from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” is related to the story “The Catcher in the Rye” when looking at Salingers unique writing style. By unique, I mean different from many other writing styles. The passage reveals a different personality from the person in the story, than characters in usual stories. This mental physic disorder that is characterized in the main character throughout most of his stories, is also located in this story. An odd character that secrete from other characters, is often seen in his works. When people in “The Catcher in the Rye”, when people have conversations, the main character often says something that doesn’t make sense to the other person, which is also what is happening in this passage.
His colourful and vivid language that he’s reflecting by forming pictures inside of our minds, which is very beautiful and common for Salingers works. He’s focusing on descriptions of odd things inside of a passage like, “He folded the robe, first lengthwise, then in thirds.” which is also seen in “The Catcher in the Rye”.
A passage from “For Esmé—With Love and Squalor ”:
“Hey,” he said. “Did you know the goddam side of your face is jumping
all over the place?”
X said he knew all about it, and covered his tic with his hand.
Clay stared at him for a moment, then said, rather vividly, as if he
were the bearer of exceptionally good news, “I wrote Loretta you had a
nervous breakdown.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. She’s interested as hell in all that stuff. She’s majoring in psychology.”
Clay stretched himself out on the bed, shoes included. “You
know what she said? She says nobody gets a nervous breakdown just
from the war and all. She says you probably were unstable like, your
whole goddam life.”
X bridged his hands over his eyes—the light over the bed seemed to
be blinding him—and said that Loretta’s insight into things was always
a joy.
Clay glanced over at him. “Listen, ya bastard,” he said. “She knows
a goddam sight more psychology than you do.”
“Do you think you can bring yourself to take your stinking feet off
my bed?” X asked.
- When conversations are made in stories as “The Catcher in the Rye” and his other works, he often swears or use strong words as, goddam, phony and hell to express himself so the statement is clear in his passages. Another thing that I’ve noticed is, in his conversations between two people the main character is always dominating the conversation. Like, Clay glanced over at him. “Listen, ya bastard,” he said. “She knows a goddam sight more psychology than you do.”. The conversation is mainly dominated by the main character and his/her feelings is often revealed in the language. These type of conversations is also used in “The Catcher in the Rye”, and seen when Holden is frustrated or mad about something going on in his life.
Information about Nine Stories, by Jerome David Salinger:
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Stories_(Salinger)__
The work that Salinger published in The New Yorker, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”
__http://www.miguelmllop.com/stories/stories/bananafish.pdf__
His first short story that was published in 1940 in Esquire, “For Esmé—With Love and Squalor” :
__http://scriptorpress.yage.net/BM16_2001_salinger.pdf__
bibliography: __http://www.shmoop.com/jd-salinger/childhood.html__ __http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/salinger.htm__
__http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8486169.stm__
__http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8486169.stm__
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger__
__http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ro-Sc/Salinger-J-D.html__
__http://www.terebess.hu/english/salinger.html__
__http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Salinger.html__
__http://www.deadcaulfields.com/Stories.html__